Why Combat Self Defense Will Save Your Life (and is the only self defense worth learning)

Updated on November 21, 2011

What Is Combat Self Defense?

Combat self defense is self defense that is based on what works in actual combat situations, not theory or esoteric martial arts traditions.

Combat self defense should, in my opinion, be the only self defense training you spend your time on. Why waste your precious time or bet your life on anything except the stuff that really works.

This doesn’t mean that a good combat self defense program won’t be based on a specific martial art. Most combat self defense systems are heavily influenced by martial arts, but the formalities and ineffective ‘showy’ moves have been stripped away.

Another key to combat self defense is the instructor you choose. Make sure your instructor has combat experience. Ideally you want an instructor who has military Special Forces training. This is pretty much a guarantee that he or she will have actual hand to hand combat experience in life or death situations.

Unfortunately not everyone will have access to an instructor like this. Bar bouncers, and police or other law enforcement officers also have great experience. The main difference is that these individuals specialize in controlling and containing violent individuals, not eliminating them (which is what soldiers are often required to do).

Controlling and containing a violent person is actually more difficult to do (kudos to law enforcement officers) but it requires a slightly different skill set. You shouldn’t really be interested in this unless you are looking into a career in law enforcement (because it is more dangerous to do).

If you want to learn at home from some of the top combat self defense instructors with decades of U.S. Special Forces training and experience click here.

At their core all martial arts were combat systems. However, over hundreds of years many of them have been ritualized and watered down. This is the exact reason why Bruce Lee went on to create his own martial art, to strip away the useless and the showy moves that didn’t work on the street.

What makes combat self defense different is that it focuses on the real goal of any physical altercation (mugging, random violence, pride fight, police encounter, counter terrorism, etc).

The goal of course is the elimination of the threat to your safety and well being. The goal is not to score points, or to perfectly execute a striking technique, or to look cool. That stuff land you on your butt, in a hospital bed, or worse.

What this means is that combat self defense focuses on specific high value targets on an attackers body. This self defense system then gives you many tools to attack that target from as many different positions, or scenarios as possible.

The result is that after training you will be able to identify open targets on an assailant, and strike them one after another with whatever technique is most practical until the assailant is no longer a threat to you or others around you.

The beauty of combat self defense is its adaptability. In a real street fight nothing will work out the way it’s supposed to, that’s why you need a system that is nimble and able to adapt to any situation.

Targets appear quickly and disappear just as quick. By this I mean that at one moment an attacker may take a step forward over-exposing his lead knee (a great target) but he may just as quickly retract that leg or step with the other foot while simultaneously dropping his guard to deliver a punch.

You have to be able to strike quickly at any open target and quickly adapt to another strike if that target is removed.

Top Combat Self Defense Targets:

When I talk about high value targets I’m taking about targets that cause a maximum amount of damage or distraction with a minimum amount of force.

These targets include sensitive areas like the eyes, ears, throat, and groin, as well as debilitating targets like the knees and solar plexus.

Body shots are a last resort in a street fight or combat situation. If no other target is open then you strike the body wherever you can, but you must realize in a real fight with adrenaline flowing through your attackers veins he will be able to take a lot of abuse to the torso and other non-sensitive areas.

The strategy is to not waste your time on these low value targets. Each strike you make will open you up to a counter attack so you must chose your strikes wisely.

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Comments 2 comments

More often than not, "showy" moves will get you into trouble. The fact is that a large percentage of fights end up on the ground where standard martial arts moves won't help you out anyways. As you have stated, for the everyday citizen self defense training (rather than martial arts training) is the way to go. Great Hub. Voted Up and Useful.

bonface 3 years ago from Nairobi, Kenya

Thanks Bob for the info. I believe everybody should learn some self defense skills